Byron Bay – 25th March

As Good Friday is a bank holiday in New South Wales I didn’t have to get up as Elsie and Jon were off! So I had a lovely lie in until about 9 am. When I got up I had a text from an ex-colleague who told me that a certain young man with the initials BV had sat all his mock exams this week! Well done! I know that this will have been an achievement both for him and for all the staff at NEST who supported him! Thank you all! (BV – if you are reading this I did say I was going to keep my eye on you even from this far away!) Now all the year 11’s need to be starting their revision during the Easter holidays but also having some fun too – enjoy all your Easter treats!

So I had a lazy morning – I managed a little catching up with Eastenders when they were all at the beach. Then it was time to shower, tidy up, do a bit of washing before lunch. After lunch I decided to go for a walk along the beach. It was a glorious day and even though it is Autumn here now it was still hot. I walked for about half an hour one way through the surf – the walk back was better as there was a breeze and the sun wasn’t on my face. These are my views..

This is northwards and whilst wading in the surf I caught a glimpse of a little fish! This is also the beach that dogs are allowed on and it seems much friendlier. At least the dogs come up and say hello! One big dog came running upwards me and I thought he was going to bowl me over but he ran straight passed me after a seagull! I had a chat with his owner who said the dog could chase the seagulls for ages! Excellent exercise that!

On the way back a random surfer dude (young, lean and blonde) said “Hello” as I passed, which I wasn’t expecting as I was minding my own business, so I only managed a “Hi” back! I also passed the lady owner of the black dog who smiled as we crossed paths again. This got me thinking, as you do when you are walking along the beach, about fleeting connections. If I hadn’t gone for a walk at that time I wouldn’t have connected with those two people. There are so many fleeting connections that people experience on a daily basis – shop keepers, bus drivers – people we will never meet again!

In the end I was walking and thinking for about an hour and once I got off the beach I felt I deserved an ice cream so I headed of to my favourite ice cream parlour and got a pomegranate flavoured cone!

It was just as good as the strawberry one I had earlier in the week! While I was quietly sitting there enjoying my ice cream I was spotted by two familiar people Jon and Elsie on their way back from swimming! Of course, Elsie had to try some too and she got two good slurps before being whisked off for a shower! I finished my ice cream at a leisurely pace and then made my way back.

Jon cooked a lovely barbie with sausage, couscous, sweet corn, onions and mushrooms – delicious! Afterwards Elsie and I played pretend sleepover in my bed – it was a bit of a squash because Princess Holly and three bunnies came too! Elsie, like every other young person I have come across, is a squirmy worm so pretend sleep was all we could manage along with some iPad watching of Mike the Knight!

Once she had gone off to real bed I got on with some of my blog and more conversations with Castell – making sure he has all the most important things for travelling and I am pleased to say he is getting there! Tomorrow morning I will speak to him to make sure all the packing has been done and he is ready to travel! I will let you know! 😀